Vehicular arm rest cover

ABSTRACT

An arm rest cover is slipped over an arm rest within a vehicle in order to aesthetically cover the arm rest with a desired design. An elongate cover member has a closed first end and a second end with an opening, the opening located either on a longitudinal axis of the cover member or radially offset from the longitudinal axis. The arm rest passes through the opening and the cover member is slipped over the arm rest until it is in substantially covering relationship with the arm rest. The cover member may be made from an elastic material such as a nylon-spandex mix.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to an arm rest cover for aestheticallycovering the arm rest of a vehicle.

2. Background of the Prior Art

Sports fans everywhere love to show team spirit especially on game day.Shirts, hats, and other clothing, flags flying from houses, and facialpainting are but a few of the examples of how many fans show team pride.One area for fan pride that gets particular treatment is a person'svehicle. Window flags, bumper and window stickers, as well as vanitylicense plates are a few ways that fans root for the home team. Somefans go to even greater lengths and have elaborate decorations and paintjobs on their vehicle in order to let others on the road know who thevehicle's owner thinks is the best team, the only limiting factor beingthe creativity of the designers. While a fan can get the outside of avehicle pretty dressed up for the big game, the inside of the vehiclehas been given far less attention in showing team pride. The interior ofa vehicle lends itself less to team spirit makeup and currently fans aremainly limited to playing a team's fight song and to adhere anappropriate team sticker to a desired surface of the vehicle. Theproblems with the available approaches are that the driver andpassengers may want to hear their team's game or a pregame analysis ofthe game, or may want to hear a rival's game on the radio precluding theplaying of the fight song on the sound system. Additionally, adhering asticker to many inside surfaces of a vehicle may cause damage to thesurface, and at the very least will leave a gluey residue upon removal,which residue is difficult to remove. Furthermore, a sticker issemi-permanent and poses problems for the fan that has many favoriteteams, both college and professional (and not to forget high school andother teams) throughout the year.

Accordingly, there exists a need in the art for a device that allows aperson to dress up the interior of a vehicle in order to show teamspirit, which device addresses the above-stated problems found in theart. Specifically, such a decorative device must not rely on the use ofthe vehicle's sound system in order to allow the vehicle's occupants tobe able to listen to the radio or other audio sources. Such a devicemust not be so permanent so that its removal is relatively difficult andpotentially injurious to the vehicle's interior. Ideally, such a devicewill be of simple design and construction so that it is relativelyinexpensive to manufacture and acquire. The device should be simple toinstall and to remove so that different teams can be supported withoutundue difficulty.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The vehicular arm rest cover of the present invention addresses theaforementioned needs in the art. The vehicular arm rest cover is adevice that allows a person to aesthetically dress up the interior of avehicle in order to show team spirit. The vehicular arm rest cover doesnot rely on the use of the vehicle's sound system, thereby freeing thevehicle's occupants to be able to listen to the radio or other audiosources. The installation of the vehicular arm rest cover is of atemporary nature so that its removal is relatively straightforwardwithout being potentially injurious to the vehicle's interior. Thepresent invention is of simple design and construction making the devicerelatively inexpensive to manufacture and acquire. The vehicular armrest cover is very simple to install and to remove allowing the driverto be able to support different teams without undue difficulty.

The vehicular arm rest cover of the present invention is comprised of anelongate cover member that a first end that is closed and a second endthat has an opening. The cover member has a design on an outer surface.The cover member is slipped over an arm rest by passing the arm restthrough the opening and sliding the cover member along the arm restuntil the cover member is in substantially covering relationship withthe arm rest. The opening of the cover member is either located on alongitudinal axis of the cover member or is radially oriented from thelongitudinal axis of the cover member. The design is embroidered on thecover member. The cover member is made from an elasticized material suchas a nylon-spandex mix. A pocket can be located on the outer surface ofthe cover member.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the vehicular arm rest cover of thepresent invention with a longitudinally aligned opening.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the vehicular arm rest cover of FIG. 1being installed on an arm rest.

FIG. 3 is a left and right perspective view of the vehicular arm restcover of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the vehicular arm rest cover of FIG. 3being installed on an arm rest.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the vehicular arm rest cover of FIG. 3fully installed on the arm rest.

FIG. 6 is an environmental view illustrating several vehicular arm restcovers installed within a vehicle.

Similar reference numerals refer to similar parts throughout the severalviews of the drawings.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring now to the drawings, it is seen that the vehicular arm restcover of the present invention, generally denoted by reference numeral10, is comprised of an elongate cover member 12 that a first end 14 thatis closed and a second end 16 that has an opening. The opening 18 of thecover member 12 is either located on a longitudinal axis of the covermember 12, as best illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, or the opening 18′ isradially offset from the longitudinal axis of the cover member 12, asbest illustrated in FIGS. 3–5. The cover member 12 has a design 20 on anouter surface of the cover member 12, which design 20 is embroideredthereon. The design 20 is any desired design such as the favorite teamof the moment of the driver. The cover member 12 may made from anelasticized material such as a nylon-spandex mix wherein the nylon is ina greater ratio relative to the spandex. Advantageously, the covermember 12 has some moisture absorbent qualities, and may have a moistureabsorbent layer (not illustrated), in order to absorb any perspirationof a user placing his or her arm thereon. A pocket 22, having either asideward opening (FIGS. 1 and 2) or an upward opening (FIG. 3) may beprovided on the outer surface of the cover member 12.

In order to install the vehicular arm rest cover 10 onto an arm rest 24of a seat 26 of a vehicle 28, the cover member 12 is positioned so thatits opening 18 or 18′ faces the distal end 30 of the arm rest 24 (thatend opposite the support post 32 of the arm rest 24) and the covermember 12 is slipped over the arm rest 24 and slid along the arm rest 24until the cover member 12 is in substantially covering relationship withthe arm rest 24. If the cover member 12 has a longitudinal orientedopening 18, then either the cover member 12 is slid until it reaches thesupport post 32 of the arm rest or a portion of the outer lip of thecover member 12 at the opening 18 is tucked over the proximal end 34 ofthe arm rest 24. If the cover member 12 has a radially offset opening18′ then the second end 16 of the cover member 12 is slipped over theproximal end 34 of the arm rest 24 until the support post 32 is receivedwithin the opening 18′, as best illustrated in FIG. 5. In order toremove the cover member 12 from the arm rest 24, the process is simplyreversed and the cover member 12 is simply slipped off of the arm rest24, if necessary, untucking the second end 16 or portion thereof fromthe proximal end 34 of the arm rest 24. Accordingly, the cover member 12is easy to install onto and remove from the arm rest 24 so that a personcan install one set of cover members 12 on a Saturday to root for his orher favorite college team and then quickly and easily swap out theSaturday teams with a new set of cover members 12 representing theperson's favorite professional team that plays on Sunday. During the offseason, other decorative cover members 12 can be installed onto the armrest 24 of the vehicle 28.

The elastic nature of the cover member 12 allows easy slippage of thecover member 12 over the arm rest 24, and allows the cover member 12 toexpand for differing sizes of arm rest 24. Advantageously, although notnecessarily, the cover member 12 in its uninstalled state has a diameterthat is less than the diameter of the arm rest 24 unto which it is to beinstalled. As such, the cover member 12 must expand in order to fit overthe arm rest 24, and once the cover member 12 is installed, it remainsin an expanded state and the elastic nature of the cover member 12biases the cover member 12 against the arm rest 24 and helps hold thecover member 12 in place over the arm rest 24. This is especiallyimportant when using a cover member 12 with a longitudinally disposedopening 18.

While the invention has been particularly shown and described withreference to embodiments thereof, it will be appreciated by thoseskilled in the art that various changes in form and detail may be madewithout departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

1. A method of temporarily covering an arm rest of a seat of a vehicle,the arm rest having a fitted cover thereon and having a fixed endattached to the vehicle by a support post and a free end that extendsoutwardly from the support post, the method comprising the steps of:providing an elongate cover member having a first end that is closed anda second end that has a single opening; providing a design on an outersurface of the cover member; and passing the arm rest through theopening of the cover member and sliding the cover member along the armrest until the arm rest is substantially covered by the cover member andthe opening of the second end is positioned at the support post and thatthe outer surface of the cover member is continuously smooth after thecover member covers the arm rest.
 2. The method as in claim 1 whereinthe opening is located on a longitudinal axis of the cover member. 3.The method as in claim 1 wherein the opening is radially offset from alongitudinal axis of the cover member.
 4. The method as in claim 1wherein the design is embroidered on the cover member.
 5. The method asin claim 1 wherein the cover member is made from an elasticizedmaterial.
 6. The method as in claim 1 wherein the cover member is madefrom a nylon and spandex mix.
 7. The method as in claim 1 furthercomprising a pocket located on an outer surface of the cover member, thepocket being raised upwardly from the outer surface of the cover member.